


You Save Me Every Day

by An_Abundance_of_Soph



Series: The Eppes/Granger Equation [1]
Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Don's a dad, Established Relationship, F/M, Kidnapping, Rape (not graphic in description)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-06 12:49:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 15,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3135095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Abundance_of_Soph/pseuds/An_Abundance_of_Soph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>WARNING<br/>I've added a rape tag to this story and it's for this chapter. I don't describe the actual attack but it's pretty clear what's happening so you have been warned</p></blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Always tell him your last name first](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3105779) by [An_Abundance_of_Soph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Abundance_of_Soph/pseuds/An_Abundance_of_Soph). 



Colby tapped his foot impatiently as his phone continued to ring and walked down the hallway looking into lecture halls and classrooms he walked, still waiting for Don to answer the call.  
“Eppes,” Don said when he finally answered.  
“Hey Don, did Hayley mention anything to you about going anywhere today?” Colby asked.  
“Umm, no not that I know of,” don replied, “although now that I think about it she mentioned having a paper she needed to work on so maybe she’s at CalSci. But shouldn’t you have more of an idea where she is since you’re her fiancé and I’m just her dad?”  
“Yeah well she’s not answering her phone, she’s not my apartment or yours, and she’s not at Charlie and Alan’s either,” Colby huffed.  
“Did you try CalSci?” Don asked.  
“I’m here now and she’s not,” Colby responded as he walked out of the building he’d been searching, “hang on I see her car in the parking lot.”  
Don was quiet while he waited for Colby to reach Hayley’s car.  
“Shit,” Colby cursed as he stood beside Hayley’s silver hybrid.  
“What?” Don questioned.  
“Don, you need to call David and Megan in,” Colby replied, fighting to remain calm, “Hayley’s handbag is on the ground here and it looks like there was a struggle.”  
Both men were silent for a moment before Colby exploded in rage and kicked out at the front tire of the car.  
“I’m on my way,” Don replied, panic clear in his voice.

By the time Don reached CalSci, David and Megan had already arrived as well as Charlie.  
“What have we got?” he asked trying to remain professional as he reached the group standing around his daughters abandoned car.  
Megan looked up from where she was talking on the phone.  
“There’s a security camera over there,” she explained, gesturing to the corner of the closest building, “I’m trying to get my hands on the footage.”  
“Charlie anything you can do buddy?”  
“I don’t know Don,” Charlie sighed, running his hands through his hair, “there’s not enough data.”  
“Okay, it’s okay Charlie,” he replied, placing a comforting hand on his little brothers shoulder.

Four hours later Don watched on as Colby stared at the computer screen in front of him. The same 4 minutes of footage played in loop over and over again. On the screen Hayley walked to her car, when a man in a dark hoody approached her from the side and grabbed her. She struggled against her attacker as a dark blue van pulled up blocking them from the camera. Moments later the van drove away leaving only Hayley's handbag and textbooks thrown across the pavement next to the car. As the footage started again Don cleared his throat and Colby snapped his gaze up to Don, hope lighting his eyes.  
“Anything new?” he asked desperately as he began to stand.  
Don shook his head and Colby slumped back into his seat his head in his hands.  
“I should have been there,” he said for what may have been the hundredth time that night, “I should have protected her. That’s my job.”  
Don sat down in the seat next to him.  
“We will get her back,” he said quietly.  
“We’ve got something!” David yelled excitedly, sticking his head through the door.  
The two men looked at one another before simultaneously standing up and rushing from the room. 

Charlie was standing in front of a display screen when they enter the conference room and Megan, David and Liz Warner were already sitting down.  
“Ok so I ran the security footage through a couple of filtering algorithms and I’ve managed to isolate a reflection off this parked car,” Charlie announced excitedly, “to which I applied a belief propagation algorithm. It took the variants of the factor graph and…”  
“Charlie,” Colby interrupted abruptly, “can we skip all that and just tell us how it helps us get Hayley back?”  
Charlie nodded, gathering his thoughts for a moment.  
“Of course Colby, I’m sorry. Uh, basically I have this partial plate from the van,” he finished with far less flair then he usually revealed the solution.  
“Alright someone run that plate and everyone get ready to move out,” Don said standing up and heading for the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Hayley woke slowly, a dull throbbing in her head making her thoughts scrambled. As she tried to piece together what had happened.

She'd been working on a paper in one of the computer labs at CalSci. She'd finished up a little after 9 and walked to her car and then out of nowhere a guy had grabbed her. She had plenty of training in self defense, Don had been teaching her since she was young and more recently she had started attending Megan's weekly Krav Maga classes and sparing with Colby when they found the time. She knew how to defend herself.

She'd dropped her things to free up her arms and landed a well placed elbow to her attackers jugular. Her attacker had coughed and retreated a few steps giving her the space she'd needed to lash out a kick. He'd recovered quickly and grabbed her leg before it made contact with its target and used it to leverage her off balance. Before she'd know what was happening, a van pulled up beside them and she was thrown in the back. Her last thought was of Colby, her father and Charlie. They would find her. She knew they would find her. And then she didn't remember anymore.

~***~ 

Now here she was in darkness. She was kneeling on the ground, cold concrete beneath her and she must have been in the corner of the room as she felt cold brickwork to her right and the harshness of a metal pipe at her back. Her arms were pulled above her head and she was handcuffed to the pipe. She pulled on the cuffs but only succeeded in chaffing the metal against the soft skin of her wrists. She gave up on the cuffs and took stock of the rest of her body. The right strap of her dress had been broken leaving a large portion of her bra exposed, and she was missing a shoe and to her dismay she felt the absence of her underwear. She also felt a throbbing pain between her legs which gave evidence to what her attackers had done to her while she was unconscious. She let out a small sob into the dark room. She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious but surely Colby would be looking for her by now. She only hoped he would find before these people killed her first.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING  
> I've added a rape tag to this story and it's for this chapter. I don't describe the actual attack but it's pretty clear what's happening so you have been warned

It turned out the van was registered to the brother of a serial rapist the team had arrested a few months earlier. They raided the house 4 and a half hours after Colby found Hayley's car. They didn't find Hayley anywhere in the house, but they found the guys cousin. And that's who was currently sitting in a kitchen chair in front of Don and Colby. 

"Where is she?!"Don yelled at the guy.  
"You mean the sexy little blonde? I don't know brother, but damn do I wish she was in my bed," the cousin had responded with a cocky smirk.  
Colby snapped and drew his weapon.  
"Cut the shit and tell me where she is or I will shoot you, you little piece of shit!" He shouted, shoving his service weapon against the guys forehead.  
Don moved forward a step before he stopped, conflicted.  
"Woah, woah, man I don't know!" The guy screamed in terror, all traces of the smirk gone from his face.  
"Aren't you gonna stop him?" He asked looking at Don.  
"No I'm not," Don replied calmly.  
"Don't look at him," Colby growled, "look at me. I'm the one with the gun."  
"I told you I don't know where she is," he begged, "but my cuz took my car, said he'd be a few days!"

They'd got the details of the car and Charlie was running an algorithm through traffic camera footage in an effort to track the cars movements.

9 hours after they'd all stood in the car park at CalSci they got a hit on the car at a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. Colby and Don were the first ones in the cars and within minutes of Charlie finding the car they were rolling out with a tactical response team.

Hayley straightened her back and tried to appear strong and confident as the man approached her.  
"You're making a huge mistake," she stated calmly, "I'm not just some innocent college girl."  
"Oh sweetheart I know exactly who you are," he sneered, "or I should say I know who your daddy is and your little boyfriend. Why else do you think you here."  
Hayley froze, she'd been counting on them panicking when she told them the FBI was looking for her, she hadn't anticipated that she'd been taken as bait.

"Not so brave now, are you gorgeous," he said as he knelt down before her, unbuckling his belt.  
He ran his hands up her thighs, lifting her dress up around her waist.  
She tried to pull away but was held tightly by the handcuffs and was trapped between the wall and her attacker.  
As he pulled down his pants, she whimpered and screwed up her eyes. She cried out at first, keeping her eyes screwed tight as she waited for it to end.

It felt like hours later that she heard it but it was more likely only minutes. The bang of a door being kicked open on the floor above and then the yells of agents identifying themselves. Relief coursed through her body as her attacker pulled away from her and stood. He pulled his pants back up but ripped part of his shirt and balled it up, stuffing it into her mouth as a gag.

Hayley heard gunshots over head and then the door in front of her flew open and Don ran in, shooting her attacking when he pulled out his own gun. Time slowed as she watched the mans body fall to the floor and then all of a sudden she was in her fathers arms.  
"I've got you baby girl, you're safe now, I've got you," he murmured soothingly as she cried into his shoulder.  
"I knew you'd find me," she sobbed once he removed the cloth from her mouth, "I knew you'd find me. I love you daddy. I love you."  
"I love you too squirt," he replied, tears blurring his own vision.  
As he held his daughter tightly he pushed the transmitting button on his radio.  
"I got her guys. I've got Hayley. We're in the basement and someone send down a set of bolt cutters."

Naturally Colby was the next one through the door. He cut through the handcuffs and then Hayley was in his arms.  
"I love you Hayley," Colby murmured as he placed a kiss on the crown of her head.  
"I love you too," she sobbed, "please get me out of here."  
And with that Colby lifted her up off the floor and gently carried her from the basement as Don followed behind.


	4. Chapter 4

As Colby re-entered the hospital room he was shocked by how small Hayley looked. physically she was the same, it wasn't like she had lost weight and she'd always been small in his arms. It was in the way she held her self, even lying in the hospital bed she seemed to be trying to hide herself. Her normally confident posture was eradicated and she hunched her shoulders as Don spoke to her in hushed tones. Her eyes were sunken into her head more and when she heard him approach the look in them when she turned to him was one of terror. He knew She wasn't scared of him, she was just scared. The world was different for her now and he would have given anything to have kept her safe. 

"Colby?" She whispered  
Even her voice was smaller, her spark was gone and it broke his heart to hear the vulnerability in the way she said his name.  
He crossed the distance between them in a few quick strides and climbed onto the bed beside her pulling her into his arms.  
The moment she was safe against his chest the last of her strength left her and she broke down crying again. Colby held her as the tears soaked through his shirt and kissed the top of her head soothingly. Don rubbed a hand up and down her back and the three of them stayed there like that for a while until Charlie and Alan arrived. 

Don stood as the two men walked in and offered the seat to his dad. Colby tried to get up but Hayley just clung to him tighter.  
"Don't let me go," she sobbed.  
"Never gonna happen babe," Colby murmured as he placed another kiss on the crown of her head.

"How are you doing Hayley?" Charlie asked hesitantly.  
"M'ok," she mumbled, "the whole time I was... I was there I just kept thinking that the three of you would save me. I knew you'd save me."  
Colby pulled her tighter again and Alan placed a comforting hand on the back of her head and ran his fingers through her hair like he had when she was a little girl.  
"You save me every day Hayley, every single freaking day," Colby admitted.

The Eppes men left shortly after when Hayley starting yawning.  
"Get some sleep squirt," Don said planted a kiss on her cheek, "I'll be back in the morning."  
Hayley nodded sluggishly and mumbled her goodbyes before closing her eyes and snuggling closer against Colby's chest.  
"You still awake?" Colby asked gently, a few moments later.  
"Mmm..." Hayley hummed in response.  
"I've never been as scared as I was last night," Colby confessed quietly. "The thought of losing you kills me."  
"I love you too," Hayley responded, leaning her head back to kiss him.  
"Marry me," Colby said suddenly.  
"You already asked me that, remember?" Hayley chuckled softly.  
"No I mean, marry me now. I don't want to wait until you graduate next year. I need you to be my wife. I don't want to waste any more time."

~***~

And that's how Hayley found herself dressed in a flowing white gown 4 days later standing in the family Craftsman house with Don standing beside her proudly. 

Her dress was simple, white and fitted around her bust and falling gently down to where the hem gently brushed the tops of her ballet flats. Her long blonde hair fell in its naturally lose curls down her back and a plain but elegant crown of daisies nestled around her head. 

"You ready squirt?" He asked.  
"Absolutely," she replied with a glowing smile.  
Don was struck by her strength in this moment. Gone was the small, terrified and broken girl he'd held in his arms only 4 days ago and in her place standing in front of him was the elegant, confident woman he had grown to know in the past few years.  
"I can't believe my baby girl is getting married today," he choked out, voice hoarse with emotion.  
Hayley smiled back at him warmly as unshed tears gleamed in her eyes.  
"I'm the same age you were when I was born dad," she replied.  
"I know it just... I'm just glad to see you so happy."

Don held open the door for her and she walked though with grace. From the back porch they descended the short staircase to the neatly mown grass and walked towards the shaded corner of the garden beside the koi pond where their family friends stood waiting for them.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a small gathering, Alan stood with Charlie and Amita, and there was also Larry, Megan and David, but Hayley had eyes only for Colby. 

And he had eyes only for her. Eyes that glistened with unshed tears as his smile grew.

Larry had taken an online course to become certified and it was he who married them beside the koi pond in the house where Hayley, Don and Charlie had grown up.

It was short and sweet.  
Larry said a few words and then Hayley and Colby exchange vows and then Larry said the words that every little girl dreamed of hearing.

"Colby, you may now kiss your bride."

And he did. The kiss was slow but passionate. Don was the first to clear his throat and without breaking away from her husband Hayley casually flipped him off as the others laughed.  
When the call of oxygen finally pulled them apart they were pulled into hugs of congratulations and then everyone headed inside for champagne.

~***~

A few hours later Hayley found herself curled up on the sofa next to Colby with everyone else spread out around the living room. She had changed out of her dress and was now wearing a pair of jeans and a lacy blouse. She shivered as the cool night air crept in a snuggle closer to Colby. He reached behind her and pulled a jumper down from the back of the sofa and handed to her. She slept it on and breathed in deeply the comforting smell of the much to big for jumper that was from Colby's days in the army. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun and Colby chuckled as she nestled back into his chest.  
"What?" She asked angering her head so she could peer up at his face.  
"Nothing I was just trying to work out whether I found you sexier in a wedding dress and your hair all done up or like this, wearing my clothes with your hair piled on top of your head," he explained.  
"And what did you decide?" She queried with a smirk.  
"Definitely like this," he responded placing a short kiss to her lips, "but as long as you've got that ring on your finger you could be wearing whatever you wanted and you'd still be perfect."  
A chorus of awwws went up around the room, but the bride and groom ignored them as the kissed.

The moment was broken when Dons phone started to ring.  
"Eppes," he answered as every agent in the room stiffened.  
He hung up after a few moments.  
"Alright team, let's roll out," he said as he stood.  
"Sorry to cut the party short squirt," he said as Hayley stood up with Colby.  
"Do you need any help?" Charlie asked as Don kissed Hayley on the cheek and then headed for the door.  
"Yeah chuck, I'm sure you'll find something to do with numbers," he responded.  
"Everything is numbers Don," Charlie called out in exasperation.  
"I'll come with you," Hayley added as Colby pulled on his shoes and placed his service Glock back holster.  
"No stay here where you're safe," he responded, giving her a brief kiss goodbye, before following the others out the door.  
Charlie was the last one to leave and has he moved to follow the others Hayley pulled him aside.  
"When you get back to the office can you pretend you need my help and call me in?" She asked quietly, "I don't want to be on my own."  
Charlie caught brief flash of vulnerability in her eyes and was reminded of how broken she had seemed in the hospital only a few days ago.  
"Sure thing," he replied, quickly hugging her before rushing out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter follows the events of the season 3 finale and I followed cannon as much as possible only tweaking a few things to bring Hayley into the episode :) enjoy lovelies

Over the following months Hayley had good days and bad days. Some nights she woke up screaming and Colby would hold her for hours trying calm her. Some days she stayed in bed all day and refused to go to her classes at CalSci. As time went by those days became less and less frequent and with the help of a therapist life got back to normal.  
6 months after the attack Hayley walked across the stage of the CalSci graduation and shook the deans hand as he handed over her diploma and she heard Don, Alan, Colby, David and Megan cheering from the crowd and saw Charlie, Larry and Amita standing with the other faculty members clapping with pride.  
After the ceremony they all went to a nearby Italian Restaurant for dinner and Hayley smiled the entire night as her friends and family continually toasted her success. In the excitement no one noticed that though the wine and champagne were flowing freely around the table Hayley stuck to drinking water for the entire evening. No one that is, except for Larry. He noticed but he didn't comment on it.  
At the end of the evening said their farewells and Hayley and Colby drive home to their little apartment.  
"You ok?" Colby asked in the silence of the car, "you’re quiet."  
"Just tired," Hayley mumbled as she leant over the centre console and kissed Colby as they sat stopped at a red light.  
"You'd tell me if you weren't ok right?"  
"Of course," Hayley replied, "I feel really good Colby. I haven't had a nightmare in weeks and... And I'm just really happy."  
Colby made a mental note that Hayley had stumbled over her words like she'd been wanting to say something else. 

~***~

3 days later found David encountering a crazed bomber on a bridge. Hayley and Colby had been driving into the city when the call had come through so Colby had driven straight there with Hayley in the car.  
Charlie and Don arrived at the same time as Hayley and Colby and immediately Don reacted to her presence.  
"Seriously Colby?" He yelled as they all walked towards the command centre that had been set up in the back of a van.  
"I was in the car with him when the call came in," Hayley explained as Colby strapped on a vest that David handed to him.  
Don placed A phone on speaker and called though to the bomber.  
"This is Agent Don Eppes."  
"What was your junior year batting average?" The bomber asked.  
"What was my junior year batting average?" Don echoed, confused.  
"293," Charlie answered.  
"That would be your brother. I'd really like to meet him," the bomber responded.  
"All right, well, we can work that out. Why don't you just come on in?" Don tried.  
"Professor Eppes is out here in seven minutes or the next bomb goes off."  
The call cut off and Don discussed the bombs with Colby and David and then the two left to get a closer look at them as Hayley and Charlie took a seat.  
A small robot with video calling was sent out to the bomber and Charlie's face appeared on the screen.  
"Sorry, sir, you have us at a loss. Have I met you before?" He asked the man.  
"No," came his reply, "But I'm an ardent admirer of your work-- the Eppes Convergence. 'The more you read and learn, the less your adversary will know'".  
"I'm sorry?" Charlie asked  
"That's, that's The Art of War. That's Sun Tzu," Hayley stated.  
"Very good," the bomber replied, "that must have been Hayley."  
Hayley shivered at the fact that the main had identified her just by her voice and slowly she entered the view of the camera.  
"Hello Miss Eppes," he greeted, "or I guess it's Mrs Granger now. Each time you answer a question correctly, I'll throw away a phone. Each time you're wrong, I'll detonate a bomb. How many questions do you suppose you can afford to get wrong?"  
"Uh, before the bridge collapses?" Charlie asked, "Six."  
"They will get harder," the man promised, "In 1972, when the Merkle-Hellman knapsack algorithm was published..." "1978," Charlie corrected and the bomber despised of another cellphone. "Francis Bacon posited four obstructions to the scientific method."  
"The Idols of the Mind," Charlie answered, "The cave, the theatre, the tribe, the... um..."  
A bomb exploded on the bridge.  
"The market place, Damn it!" Charlie yelled, "You didn't give me enough time!"  
"I'm not just testing your mind, I'm testing your heart," the bomber explained, "I'm going to give over my life's work to you people."  
"What work? What are we talking about here?" Charlie questioned.  
"When the inventor of the chessboard sold his creation to a king, he asked for a single grain of wheat for the first square, two for the second, four for the third, doubling the amount each time-- How many grains of wheat was the inventor asking for?" He asked calmly.  
"It's the wheat and chessboard problem," Hayley answered as Charlie did the calculations, "It's two to the 64th, minus one."  
"It's too easy a question," Charlie complained, "It's 18,446,744,073,709,551,615."  
"No. That's not right."  
"Yes, it is," Charlie fought, "Why don't you tell me what the answer is?  
"I've given you everything you need," the man answered cryptically.  
The call came through on the radio that the phone towers had been disabled and the armed agents moved in with Don leading them.  
"If you find the Janus List, trust it!" the bomber yelled before he manually set off the explosion.  
~***~ Over the course of the next two days Hayley helped work with Charlie on deciphering the information the bomber, an ex-MI6 agent named Ashby, had given them. Ashby had left them with multiple clues; the Bacon cipher, Dons batting average, the napsack algorithm, along with the wrong answer to the wheat and chessboard problem. The agents worked other angles of the case but both Hayley and Charlie were fixated on the codes and numbers in front of them and continued to chase the elusive Janus List that Ashby had mentioned.  
"You guys making any progress?" Don asked when he stuck his head into the room where they had set up their computers.  
"Some," Hayley replied, "but what exactly is a Janus List?"  
"It's an old spy myth apparently," Don replied sceptically, "it's supposed to be a list of all the double agents."  
"If it's real it's a really big deal isn't it?" Charlie asked quietly.  
"Yeah, if it exists," Don scoffed.  
"Bet you ten bucks it does," Hayley dared.  
"You're on squirt."  
"Charlie we have to find this thing," Hayley said once Don left the room.  
"You two are children," Charlie said with a chuckle, shaking his head as he returned to the equation he was writing.  
~***~ 4 hours later Hayley pumped her fist into the air in victory as Ashby's voice sounded through the speaker of the phone.  
"I freaking knew it," she laughed happily, "oh suck it dad."  
Charlie laughed and then turned his attention to the message playing from Naomi Vaughn's voicemail.  
"...the Janus List," the voice was saying.  
"The following people have been co-opted.  
If all are exposed, the infrastructure of two intelligence networks will collapse.  
MI-6 Agent Richard Collins of the UK, by the Russians; Russian SVR Agent Andrei Gorelov, by the South Koreans; French Secret Service Agent Laurent Dassin by the United States."  
"Holy shit Charlie, we found it," Hayley said in a hushed tone. Charlie was already pulling his phone out to call Don.  
"United States Counter Intelligence Agent Dwayne Carter by the Chinese," the message continued, "United States FBI Agent Colby Granger, also by the Chinese..."  
Hayley froze.  
"No!" She yelled standing up suddenly, "No it's a mistake. No. He wouldn't!" She was becoming hysterical now and Charlie pulled her into his arms.  
"He wouldn't do it Charlie. He wouldn't. That guy is wrong."  
She was openly sobbing now and crumbled within her uncles arms. Charlie kept her standing until he could lower her into a chair.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter follows as much cannon as possible for ep 4x01

Hayley stood beside Charlie, Megan and David and watched in horror at the scene in front of her. On the other side of the glass sat her husband, handcuffed to the table as her father paced around him. She'd seen her dad interrogate suspects before. She'd never imagined Colby ever sitting on that side of the table. He sat confidently, almost cocky as he answered Dons questions. He felt like a stranger to her and it made her doubt everything she'd ever known about the man she loved. 

"You know what we're gonna do," Don told him, "tomorrow morning we're gonna start picking through your miserable life. We'll look at your bank accounts, your credit cards, and your dirty laundry, the whole nine yards. You really gonna waste more of our time? Are you gonna make me drag Hayley in here and interrogate her too?"

At the mention of Hayley's name Colby nodded, and as he confessed she broke down crying in Charlie's arms again. David rushed into the room and Megan raced after him.

~***~

The weeks passed by in a blur and Hayley found herself falling back in to the dark place she had been after the attack. She only lasted one night alone in hers and Colby's empty apartment before she asked Charlie if she could move back in to the craftsman house.

4 days after Colby's confession she'd fought badly with Don.  
"Why can't I see him?" She'd yelled.  
"Because he's a traitor Hayley, I won't let him anywhere near you," Don had responded.  
"I need to talk to him, I have to. You don't understand!" She'd continued to scream.  
They argued for hours and then Hayley had avoided him for weeks, furious that he would keep her away from her husband. 

~***~

Finally 5 weeks after the arrest she was granted a visit. She entered the high security prison and the moment she entered the room tears stung her eyes.  
"Hayley?" Colby gasped. It was clear that he had not been given prior notice as to who his visitor was.  
"Hey," Hayley sobbed as she sat down across from him. Colby reached his hand out towards her but stopped half way across the table. He knew he wasn't allowed to touch her but all he wanted in that moment was to hold her.  
"Hayley what are you doing here?" Colby asked.  
"I need you," she whispered, "please tell me dad got it wrong. Tell me there's another explanation to this."  
"Hayley I can't tell you that, but know that I love you and nothing between us was ever a lie," Colby replied.  
"Nothing between us was a lie?" She choked out, "everything was a lie Colby! How can I ever trust that you didn't marry me to get closer to dad or to Charlie?"  
"Hayley please," Colby begged, unable to say what he really wanted to say.  
"Look if you can't tell me what happened then I'm done here. But you should know that I'm pregnant." She spat the words at him, "you were going to be a father." She stood up and left the room before Colby could respond and as the door closed behind her he smashed his hand into the table and screamed.

The following day Colby escaped along with Dwayne Carter. Don was furious and determined as hell to get him back.  
"Somebody tell me they have something!" Don yelled in frustration as he paced around the command room.  
"I might have something," Megan offered, "Colby had a visitor yesterday."  
"Yeah who? Do we know what they talked about?" Don replied walking over to where Megan sat in front of a computer.  
"I have video but no audio. Don it was Hayley and the conversation doesn't look like it went well."  
They were both silent as they watched the exchange between the couple and then watched as Hayley left and Colby slammed the table.  
"Well we need to know what that was about," Don said calmly, "call Hayley and tell her whatever you need to get her in here for an interview."  
Megan gave Don a worried look as he walked away before picking up the phone and dialing Hayley's number.

An hour later Hayley found herself sitting in the interrogation room. She looked up when she heard the door open and almost laughed when David walked in.  
"Hayley I'm gonna cut to the chase," David began as he sat down across from her.  
"We know you visited Colby yesterday and that the conversation ended with you storming out. We need to know what was said. Did he give you any impression that he was planning this?"  
Hayley ignored David and stared straight at the mirror behind his head. When he finished speaking she stood up and walk around the table until she was standing in front of the one-way glass.  
"Really daddy dearest?" She asked with a sneer, "are you to scared to come in here yourself and interrogate me like a criminal? You've already imprisoned one family member, why not arrest another?"  
"Hayley please," David said quietly.  
"Cmon Don come in here and accuse me of masterminding a prison break!!" She was screaming at the glass now, furious knowing that he was hiding on the other side like a coward.  
Moments later Don walked through the door and calmly asked David to leave. Only once they were alone did he look at her.  
"What did he say to you?" He asked calmly.  
"He said that he loved me," she offered.  
"And...?" Don prodded, getting angrier in response to her defensiveness.  
"And what Don?" Hayley asked. Don flinched at Hayley's use of his first name again.  
"Hayley I just want to know where he is," Don said through gritted teeth.  
"And you think I have any idea?" Hayley spat back.  
"You're telling me that you visit him for the first time in 5 weeks and leave after only a few minutes and he's angry enough to punch the table after you stormed out and then it's a complete coincidence that he escapes the following day?" Don yelled.  
"I don't know where he is!" She screamed.  
"Then just tell me what you said to him so I can eliminate you as a suspect!" Don roared back.  
Hayley physically back away from him in response to his anger.  
"I told him I was pregnant!" She yelled, tears falling down her face. "I told him he was going to be a dad and then I left and I don't know where he is but he didn't escape for me ok?" She continued to yell but her anger was quickly fading into heartache. "He hasn't tried to contact me and I... I... I just don't know," she sobbed.  
Don stood quickly and rounded the table, pulling his daughter to his chest as she cried.  
"I'm sorry baby, I'm sorry," he whispered soothingly.  
He held her until her tears stopped and her breathing began to even out.  
"I'm gonna be a grandpa?" Don asked quietly.  
Hayley nodded and tried to smile.  
"I know we don't have any evidence, and he confessed and now he's escaped, but I think we're missing something important. Like there's a big piece of this whole thing we're missing," she confessed.  
Don was just about to respond when David opened the door and stuck his head in.  
"Don, Colby's made contact" he said.  
Don span around to look at him.  
"He's on Charlie's phone," David finished, and then stood aside as both Don and Hayley rushed through the door.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trust Metric

Hayley held her breathe and wiped the tears from her eyes as Don picked up the phone.  
“What? You call Charlie, is this a threat?” Don asked.  
Hayley and the team stood silently watching on as Don talked with Colby for the next few minutes before hanging up.  
“He says he has a handler in counter intelligence that he was working with to find out who Carter was working with, and that they planned the escape in the hopes that it would lead them to Carter’s contacts,” Don informed his team.  
“This is it dad,” Hayley said happily, “This is what we were missing!”  
“Hayley, no. We can’t trust anything he says,” Don replied with a weary sigh.  
“Are you kidding me?” Hayley yelled in response.  
“Hayley, please. Go home and I’ll call you if we learn anything new.”  
Charlie saw Hayley gearing up to fight and stepped in to diffuse the situation.  
“Actually don, I could use Hayley’s help with an equation, she has the most data about Colby and she’s entirely capable of creating something called a trust metric.”  
“So what?” Hayley asked, her anger derailed by her immediate interest in the math, “you want me to employ a fuzzy system and weight Colby’s actions?”  
“Exactly,” Charlie responded enthusiastically, “Take this ice cube. How would you describe it? Wet, hard, cold, but none of those words mean anything unless we have a bases for comparison. Using fuzzy logic we create a range of those states and assign the ice cube values accordingly. Similarly a person’s honesty is not absolute, we all lie to varying degrees, for varying reasons.”  
“So what you’re going to tell us what percentage to believe him?” don asked as David shook his head at the idea.  
“More like a probabilistic statement, I mean let Hayley do the work and then if you guys don’t want to use it then at least she tried.”  
Charlie gave done a look that conveyed that they both knew Hayley desperately needed something to make her feel useful.  
As Hayley worked on their trust metric, Charlie continued to work on calculation possible escape routes, the rest of team tracked down other leads, all while Colby and Dwayne made their way to a Chinese freighter heading for international waters. 

~***~

“Charlie,” Hayley asked as they worked, “do you think he’s guilty?”  
“I don’t know Hayley,” Charlie answered honestly.  
“I do. I know he’s telling the truth. I trust him 100% and I need your help to convince dad to do the same,” she begged.  
“Well, do the math Hayley, and we’ll see what it tells us.”

~***~

After a few hours Charlie located the two escapees on the Chinese freighter and the team prepared to board the ship. While they made those preparations Hayley brought forward the results of her trust metric.  
“So what does it tell us?” Don asked.  
“Nothing,” Hayley scoffed, “Nothing we don’t already know in our hearts.”  
The room was silent for a moment before Megan spoke up.  
“I’m in,” she decreed.  
“I don’t know what to believe,” David admitted, “but I’d like to go find out.  
“Alright,” don replied, giving Hayley a quick pat on the shoulder, “we roll in ten.”

~***~

Hayley was waiting at the hospital when the team arrived.  
“His ambulance arrived about 5 minutes ago,” she told Don, Megan and David as they approached her in the waiting room, “but they won’t let me see him yet.”  
“Well I mean he’s still technically an escaped felon until we file the paperwork,” David replied coldly.  
Hayley spared him a withering glare before her father pulled her into a rib-crushing hug.  
“I’m sorry I doubted you,” Don whispered so that only Hayley could hear, “I’m sorry I doubted him.”  
“It’s ok dad. There was a while there when even I started to doubt him,” Hayley admitted.  
They pulled apart as a doctor entered the waiting room.  
“Special Agent Eppes?” he called out and Don let go of Hayley and walked over to him. The two men talked for a few minutes in low hushed tones before Don looked up and called Hayley over.  
“Ok, technically Colby’s in our custody until we can get a judge down here to clear him and he’s not supposed to have visitors,” Don told her and her shoulders slumped dramatically.  
“However,” Don continued, “I’m feeling a bit rebellious, so go, be with your man.”  
Hayley grinned and gave him a brief hug before the doctor led her through the security doors and into Colby’s secured hospital room. 

Colby was pale and sweaty and an oxygen mask was strapped over his face, his shallow breathes fogging the mask in a steady rhythm. Hayley let out a small gasp before quickly crossing the room to sit beside his bed. She gripped his hand tightly in hers and brought it to her mouth to kiss. She stayed there in that seat for the next 2 hours, alone with her husband before Don entered with a judge and they went through the necessary paperwork to clear Colby’s name.  
Don gave her a brief kiss on the forehead when they finished and then she was alone with Colby again. He awoke almost 7 hours after arriving at the hospital and 8 hours after being found on the freighter.  
“Hayley-bug?” Colby croaked as he woke.  
“Colby?” Hayley gasped as she sat up her chair where she’d fallen asleep. “Oh thank god you’re awake. I was so scared.”  
“I’m sorry, God I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you, but Kirkland…” Colby said in a rushed tumble of words.  
“It’s okay,” Hayley interrupted, “I get it. It’s okay. I trust you. I love you. God I was so scared when dad called and told me what happened.”  
It was at that point she had begun to sob and Colby had weakly pulled her forward so that her head was cradled on his chest. Only once her tears quietened a few minutes later did Colby speak.  
“Are you really pregnant?” he asked hesitantly.  
She nodded in response as she stood up from her chair and moved to lie beside him on the small hospital bed.  
“You’re going to be a daddy,” she whispered emotionally as she lent her head against his shoulder.  
“I found out the day before graduation,” she explained, “I was just trying to come up with grand gesture way to tell you.”  
“I’m so sorry Hayles,” Colby said again.  
“Shhh,” Hayley replied, “I haven’t slept in days. I just want to sleep in your arms again, okay?”  
“Anything you want,” Colby mumbled as they both drifted off to sleep. 

~***~

When Don finally entered the hospital room he found Colby asleep, hooked up to monitors with an oxygen mask over his mouth. Hayley was curled up against him on the bed, also asleep and Don crept towards the bed slowly and draped a blanket over the two of them before he placed a kiss to his daughter’s forehead. He turned to leave the room but before he made it out the door he heard Hayley stir behind him and turned back to see her lift her head from Colby’s shoulder.  
“Dad?” she asked voice quiet and thick from sleep.  
“Hey squirt,” Don whispered, “go back to sleep.”  
She gently slipped from the bed and motioned for Don to follow her out to the hallway as Colby slept on.  
“I didn’t think you were coming back,” she admitted, “It’s been 2 days dad.”  
“I know,” Don sighed, “I just didn’t know what to say to him.”  
“Do you know now?” Hayley responded.  
“Not at all,” Don admitted.  
“Well wait around a bit,” Hayley said, looking at her watch, “a nurse will be back within the hour and she’ll wake him up for tests.”  
Don nodded.  
“Have you eaten?” he questioned, pulling her to his chest for a hug.  
“Not for a while,” Hayley admitted, “I was scared to leave him.”  
“Well he’s not going anywhere, let’s go grab some food and then we’ll come back and we can all talk.”  
Hayley nodded and allowed her father to steer her down the hallway towards the nearby cafeteria.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 MONTHS LATER

~***~ 3 MONTHS LATER ~***~ Hayley was ripped from deep sleep by hands clenching her throat. Her eyes sprung open as she fought for breath.  
Colby sat straddled across her hips, a distant look in his eyes as he slowly began to crush his wife's jugular.  
"Colby!" Hayley gasped in pain.  
At the sound of her voice Colby's gaze snapped into focus and he let go of Hayley's throat. He threw himself backwards until he was standing in the corner of the room, staring wide eyed and panting, hand shaking.  
"Hayley?" He choked out, terror lacing his voice, "Hayley? Oh my god what have done?"  
"It's ok," Hayley soothed as she got up from the bed, "it was just another nightmare, it's ok."  
Colby flinched away from her as she approached him and she stopped mid stride as he spoke.  
"No. Stay away from me. I don't want to hurt you," he pleaded, his eyes never leaving the red marks his hands had left on her neck.  
"I'm ok, we're both ok," she promised as she rubbed her hand over the prominent baby bump.  
Colby stepped away from her and before she could stop him he was running out the door. She heard his keys jangle as he threw on a jacket and shoes by the front door and then she heard the front door slam, before the apartment fell silent again.  
She sat down on the edge of the bed and began to cry, overwhelmed by the entire situation.  
Sometime later she heard the front door open again and leapt from the bed, hurrying into the hallway.

"Dad?" She asked in shock, seeing her father standing just inside her doorway.  
"Colby called. He said you were hurt, that you needed me and then he hung up," he explained.  
Don took a moment to look at his daughter. She was wearing a large army t-shirt that must have been Colby's, it hung of her slender shoulders falling to halfway down her thighs and was stretched tightly across her pregnant stomach. He took in her tear strained face and then he saw the red marks across her throat, the bruises that were already starting to form and he noted the absence of Colby in the apartment.  
"What did he do to you?" Don asked slowly as he walked to her.  
"He didn't mean it dad," Hayley sobbed, her tone begging him to understand.  
"I'll kill him when I get my hands on him," Don promised through clenched teeth as he pulled his daughter to him in a comforting hug.  
"No," she mumbled into his chest. "It's not what you think."  
She stepped out of Dons embrace and slowly lowered herself onto the sofa.  
"He's been struggling ever since the freighter," she explained, "he's not eating, he barely sleeps and when does he has nightmares. They've been slowly getting worse over the last few months and then tonight he just... He didn't mean to hurt me."  
"That's what most victims of domestic abuse claim," Don replied.  
"No, you don't understand when he was..." Hayley swallowed against the memory of the fear. "His eyes were glazed over like he wasn't really there and the second he heard my voice he snapped out of it and then he wouldn't let me touch him because he was scared of hurting me and the baby. I'm worried dad. The way he was when he left here, I'm scared he'll kill himself."  
Don pulled her close for another hug as he pulled out his phone and called David.  
"David," he said when the agent answered his phone, "I need you to track down Colby, call me when you've got a fix on him."  
He hung up the phone and held his daughter close until dawn.

Colby was MIA for 5 days. He knew how to fall off the grid. He hadn't used a phone or credit cards and he'd dumped his car in long term parking at central station. Not even one of Charlie's equations was going to find him and his team had accepted that Agent Granger would only return when he was ready. Everyone was happy to wait and give him the time he needed to get his head together, everyone except Hayley of course.  
"But what if we can't find him because he ate his own gun in some back-end motel?" She yelled for what had to have been the hundredth time in the past 5 days.  
"We would have found a body," Don tried to rationalize, as he had every time she'd said that Colby was dead, "and Colby's not the kind of guy for suicide."  
"You didn’t see the guilt and shame and despair in his eyes when he walked out. God what if..."  
Hayley's words were cut short as she felt the baby suddenly shift in an unpleasant way. Then all of a sudden she cried out as pain lanced through her body and she hunched forward throwing her arms protectively around her stomach.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i completely made up the medical stuff in this chapter. sorry if it's wrong or just incredibly vague

“Mrs Granger, hello I’m Dr Walker.”  
“Hi,” Hayley huffed through the pain. She was lying in a hospital bed on her side curled in the foetal position with one of her arms clinging to her stomach in an attempt to shelter the child growing there as the other arm was outstretched towards where Don was sitting beside the bed holding her hand.  
“Have you been sleeping well recently,” Dr Walker asked.  
“Ah no,” Hayley responded sheepishly, “I haven't really slept in about 4 or 5 days.”  
“Ah huh,” the doctor replied, making a note on her chart as he asked, “and eating?”  
“I haven't really been able to keep much down.”  
“Can ask what's causing all of this?” the doctor question gently.  
“My husband’s missing,” she whimpered, screwing her eyes shut as another spike of pain shot through her body.  
“No Hayley,” Don responded sharply, “he's hiding because he knows I'll kick his ass.”  
“Or he's already dead,” Hayley responded with a sharpness to equal her fathers.  
The heart rate monitor beeped furiously.  
“I'm assuming you've been agitated a lot recently,” the doctor said as he noted down more observations on her chart.  
Hayley nodded.  
“And the marks around your neck?” the doctor asked gently.  
“They’re unrelated,” Hayley replied hurriedly as Don ground his teeth together in frustration.  
“Well, it seems your raised heart rate as well as lack of sleep or food has put a lot of strain on both your body and your daughters. She's panicking because she thinks you're both in danger,” he explained calmly.  
“Is she going to be okay,” Hayley asked in panic.  
“She should be absolutely fine, we just need you to try and remain calm,” the doctor soothed.  
“I’m going to get a nurse to set up an IV drip and we will get you something to eat. I’ll see what I can get you for the pain, okay?”  
Hayley nodded as she whimpered again.  
“Thank you doctor,” Don said and he shook the man’s hand before he left the room.  
The nurse entered the room not much later and set up an IV and took Hayley’s blood pressure before leaving again.  
Once she got settled again Hayley slowly fell asleep, arm still draped protectively around her stomach. As her chest softly rose and fell Don left the hospital room to go talk to the family and friends he knew would be out in the waiting room

~***~

An hour later everyone looked up as the heard someone burst through the door and were all a little relieved to see Colby running into the waiting, eyes wide with panic.  
"Where is she? Is she ok? Are my girls ok? God I got here as soon as I....”  
His panicked rambling was cut short as Don stood and punched him, hard, in the face.  
Colby was taken off guard by the blow and fell to the floor.  
Don stepped forward to lay in another hit but was stopped by Alan’s firm hand on his chest.  
“Donnie, stop,” he ordered, “This isn’t the way to handle this.”  
Don looked at him as he stepped back from Colby and watched on as Alan helped the younger man to his feet.  
“Are you ok Colby?” Alan asked as Colby rubbed his jaw and winced.  
“Yeah, I’ve had worse and I definitely deserved worse,” Colby sighed.  
“You’re damn right you deserve worse,” Don yelled, “I should be arresting you for domestic violence!”  
“Don I never meant to hurt her. That’s why I left. I won’t put her in danger by being around me. But David called and left a message that Hayley was in the hospital and that something was wrong with the baby and I got here as soon as I could,” Colby explained.  
“Yeah well she’s only in here because she’s been so stressed out about you all week,” Don spat.  
“She hasn’t been sleeping, she barely eats and she’s been constantly terrified that we were gonna find your body with a bullet in your head!”  
Colby sighed and ran the palm of his hand down his face.  
“I’m sorry Don. I honestly don’t know what happened the other night, and yeah I’ve spent the last few days thinking way too much about my gun, but I’m not leaving her. I won’t put her through that. Not ever,” Colby promised.  
“Yeah well were not finished with this conversation, but she’s right through that door down there,” Don sighed in defeat. 

~***~

Hayley woke a few hours later to the familiar feel of Colby’s chest against her back and his arms wrapped around her stomach and their daughter. She leant back into the feel of her husband and smiled softly she felt the arms around her tighten briefly.  
“Hey,” Colby murmured hesitantly.  
“I love you,” Hayley responded, “I love you so much.”  
She rolled over until she was facing him, their foreheads touching and her baby bump pressed up against him.  
“Are you okay now?” Hayley asked as she placed a brief kiss against his lips.  
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Colby replied before continuing, “But no I’m not. I’m so messed up Hayles and I’m terrified of hurting you again or hurting our daughter. I’m broken.”  
“Aren’t we all?” Hayley replied, “I know what happened the other night was scary, but I also know it wasn’t you. Not really. You went through hell out on the boat Colby and of course it’s gonna be hard. You know what I was like after I got kidnapped. You saw how messed up I was after that. But I got professional help and I had you and I got through it and you’ll get through this too.”  
“You think I need to see a shrink?” Colby asked.  
“Yeah I do,” Hayley answered, “I’ll go with you if you want, or you could come with me to one of my sessions with Dr Bradford. Whatever you feel comfortable with I’ll be there, every step of the way.”  
“I love you,” Colby whispered, pulling his even closer to him as they kissed. After a few minutes they pulled apart breathing heavily.  
“But are you ok? I mean you’re the one in hospital right now,” Colby asked.  
“Doc says we’re both gonna be fine. I just need to get more sleep, start eating again and avoid stressful situations.”  
“Thank god,” Colby sighed, “when I listened to David’s message saying that you were in here… god I’ve never been so scared Hayley. I thought I was gonna lose you both and I… I’ve just never felt so terrified, not even when I was out on that boat and I knew he was gonna kill me.”  
“We’re okay now. Everything’s gonna be fine now,” Hayley promised, “You’ll see.”  
They both kissed again and then slowly drifted back to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

“Good afternoon Hayley,” Dr Bradford said in greeting as he held open his door for her.  
“Hello Dr Bradford,” Hayley smiled, taking her usual seat on the couch as Colby walked through the door, “This is my husband.”  
“Ah the infamous Special Agent Colby Granger,” he said offering Colby his hand. The two men shook hands and then Colby joined his wife on the couch. Bradford took his seat across from the two and picked up his notepad.  
“Well I was going to start of this session by asking why you cancelled last week but now I can’t decide whether to start with Colby’s presence or the marks on your neck Hayley,” Bradford said.  
“Well I guess it’s all connected really,” Hayley started, reaching out to take Colby’s hand.  
“I’ve told you that Colby’s nightmares had been getting worse,” she began, looking at hers and Colby’s hands entwined together and avoiding the two men looking at her. “Things got pretty out of hand last week and I woke up in the middle of the night to Colby having a nightmare and he was trying to strangle me.”  
She felt Colby tense with guilt and shame and squeezed his hand supportively before continuing.  
“He snapped out of it and when he realised what he’d done he left the apartment and called my dad to come make sure I was ok. I didn’t hear from him for 5 days and I wasn’t sleeping or eating and I fought with dad because he was mad at Colby and I got myself so stressed that I ended up in the hospital, which is why I cancelled our session last week.”  
The room was silent for a moment before Bradford spoke.  
“Ok so there is a lot for us to talk about,” he began, “first of all I just want to make sure that you are safe Hayley.”  
“Yes of course,” Hayley replied in a rush.  
“Ok well in that case Colby I’d like to spend some time today discussing your nightmares. Can you tell me about them? Hayley said they started after you were almost killed by a Chinese operative a few months ago.”  
“Um yeah,” Colby started nervously, “I keep dreaming that I’m back on that freighter only I’m not being interrogated. I’m strapped to a chair and I have to watch as Hayley’s interrogated and I can’t stop it. Every time I watch him kill her and I can never stop it. Except last week the dream changed, I was able to get out of the ropes tying me down and I jumped at the guy and started strangling him and then I woke up and it was Hayley’s throat in my hands and it scared the crap out of me. If I hadn’t woken up in time I could have killed her and our daughter. I’m terrified to close my eyes because I don’t know what I’m capable of.”  
Bradford nodded and made some notes.  
“Have the two of you shared a bed since you came back Colby?” he asked patiently.  
“We slept on the same hospital bed the night I came back but since Hayley got released I’ve been sleeping on the couch,” Colby admitted.  
“Is that something that you needed Hayley?” Bradford asked.  
Hayley shook her head.  
“No, I haven’t been sleeping well without him next to me. The couch is something he needed,” she explained.  
“ok well for now I think that’s a good precaution to be taking,” Bradford responded, “and Colby I would like to have some one on one sessions with you to deal with the underlying issues here, but for now Hayley I want to talk about you. You said you fought with Don. Can you tell me what happened there?”  
Colby nodded in response to the request for more therapy and Hayley smiled in support, before turning back to Bradford to address his question.  
“He didn’t know about the problems Colby’s been having so when he saw the marks on my neck he jumped to the conclusion that Colby had attacked me and that I was covering for him like in a lot of domestic abuse cases and then our fight escalated when I thought there was a high probability that Colby was going to kill himself. My dad wouldn’t take my concerns seriously and just kept telling me to wait and he would come back eventually,” Hayley explained.  
Bradford nodded.  
“I have a session with Don tomorrow and I expect that this will all come up, but is there anything you feel the need to talk about in relation to this Hayley?”  
“I don’t know,” Hayley sighed, “now that my emotions aren’t clouding my judgment so much I can see where he was coming from and I love him for being so protective of me, but this is twice in only a few months that his completely ignored me when I’ve had an opinion that differs from his. First was when I tried to convince him that Colby wasn’t working for the Chinese and then this and it makes me doubt our relationship. We’ve always been so close and we trust each other and lately it seems like dad doesn’t trust me as much as I trust him.”  
“And that trust is important to you?” Bradford asked.  
“It’s everything. My dad and I have been through so much together and even when I was living with my grandparents and Charlie it still felt like it was just me and dad against the world. It’s always been the two of us and now I feel like he’s pulling away from that,” Hayley sighed and Colby placed an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into his side.  
“Maybe you’re the one that’s pulling away,” Bradford offered.  
“What?” Hayley gasped, “No!”  
“I’m not saying you’re doing it deliberately, but you’re married now and you’ve got a baby on the way and maybe he feels like you’re creating a new family for yourself and he’s not quite sure where he fits into it.”  
Hayley thought over Bradford’s words for a moment.  
“I never thought about it like that,” she admitted with a weighted sigh.  
“Well I think you should definitely sit down with him and talk about what you’ve just told me,” Bradford advised, “but unfortunately that’s all our time so we can pick this up next week. Colby I really would like for you to come in for a few session.”  
“Yeah, doc I think it’s time I talked about it with someone other than Hayley,” Colby agreed, “I’ll try to free up some time.”  
They all shook hands and Hayley and Colby made their way out of Bradford’s office arm in arm.


	12. Chapter 12

It took time but with the help of Dr Bradford, Colby regained control over the nightmares that had begun to cripple him and slowly Hayley and Colby’s life eventually returned to its happy normalcy.

~***~

“I could really use Hayley’s help on these network theories,” Charlie admitted as he stood in front of his board in the FBI conference room.  
“No,” Colby replied, “That’s not happening Charlie. She can’t be anywhere near this case.”  
Don nodded in agreement and Charlie reluctantly accepted that he was on his own with the equations in front of him.

~***~

2 hours later Colby was sitting at his desk, hunched over the case files when he felt a soft kiss placed on the side of his neck.  
“Hey there G-man,” Hayley greeted him.  
“Hayley?” Colby said in surprise, quickly closing the files in front of him, “What are you doing here? Did Charlie call you?”  
“I was bored so I thought I’d come see you. Why would Charlie call me? Does he need help on something?” she replied curiously.  
“What? No I’m just surprised to see you,” Colby replied.  
“So what are you guys working on?” Hayley pressed, looking over his shoulder at the files on Colby’s desk.  
“Oh, nothing exciting,” Colby shrugged.  
Hayley gave him a disbelieving look and reached past him to flip open the first file. She froze as she took in photos of the victim and statements.  
She quietly stood and walked away from Colby’s desk and entered the conference room where Charlie talking with Don.  
“Hayley?” they both asked when they saw her.  
“What are you doing here squirt?” Don asked as he watched her take in the photos Charlie had pinned his board.  
“I came to see Colby and caught a look at his case files. I need to help,” she replied calmly.  
“Ok,” Don accepted reluctantly, “Well the latest victim is on her way in for a line-up soon.”  
Hayley nodded her head as Megan entered the room.  
“Josie’s on her way in, Don, but I’m worried about pushing her too far. She’s scared and she’s barely 19 and this could tip her over the edge,” Megan admitted.  
“When she comes in can I talk to her?” Hayley asked, “I’d like to help her if I can.”  
“I think that could really help Hayley,” Megan agreed and Don nodded.

~***~

20 minutes later Colby was walking past Hayley in a dark blue LAPD uniform.  
“You look good in a uniform Agent,” Hayley smirked, slapping him on the ass as he walked past.  
Colby chuckled as he walked down the hall, shaking his head as he went. 

~***~

As Josie left the line-up identification she was visibly upset and her parents were trying to get her out of the building.  
“Wait, Josie,” Megan called after her, “before you go there’s someone I think you should talk to.”  
She paused just long enough for Hayley to approach her and introduce herself.  
“Hi there, my name’s Hayley and I know what you’re going through. Could we talk for a just a few minutes?”  
Josie nodded and told her parents that she would be ok, before following Hayley down the hallway to the break room. 

“Would you like a coffee or anything?” Hayley asked as she made herself a cup of tea.  
“Tea would be great.”  
Hayley nodded and made the drinks before sitting down at the table.  
“You said you knew what I’m going through,” Josie prompted when they were both seated with their tea and Hayley nodded.  
“I was attacked 10 months ago,” she said quietly, “I’d been working late on a paper at college and it was dark by the time I walked to my car and a guy jumped me as I was getting my keys out of my handbag. He hit me over the head and threw be in a van. When I woke up I was in a basement, tied up and I’d already been raped. Once I woke up they came back and raped me again and then the FBI showed up. Both my dad and my partner are agents so they basically tore the city apart looking for me.”  
Josie was shaking by the end of the story.  
“How are you so strong?” she asked in a whisper.  
“I have a good support team. I married my husband not long after and I see a shrink. Everyone’s different but for me it was important to move forward. Not to bottle it up but to process it and move past it. It took a while but I got there. Now I’m happily married and I’m about to become a mum. My life is good despite what happened to me and yours can be too,” Hayley promised.  
“Every time I close my eye I can see him,” Josie admitted.  
“It goes away. If it helps I try to remember that he wanted to break me and I’m too stubborn to let him win. Every time I smile, he loses.”  
Josie nodded and before she could respond Colby was knocking on the door.  
“Sorry to interrupt girls but Hayley, Charlie says he could really use your help on the networking thing.”  
Hayley nodded, “Tell him I’ll be there in a minute.”  
Colby left and Hayley turned back to face Josie.  
“Would it be ok if I stuck around a bit longer?” Josie asked.  
“Sure, I mean I have to work but you’re more than welcome to just come sit with us,” Hayley offered.  
“That would be great,” Josie smiled weakly, “I’ll just tell my parents that I’m gonna stay here and they can come get me later.”  
“Tell them not to worry and I can get one of the agents to drive you home or I can give you a lift.”  
Josie smiled again and walked down the hallway to where her parents were waiting with Megan.  
Hayley waited for a few minutes while Josie talked to her parents and then they walked together to the conference room. ~***~ Josie pulled up a chair and Hayley approached the board with Charlie’s equation scrawled across it.  
“So what’s the problem, Charlie?” Hayley asked as she read over the equation.  
“I don’t know,” Charlie admitted, “I just can’t get it to work and we just found out that the guy isn’t LAPD, he’s from another department so I’m trying to alter the equation to reflect that.”  
Hayley nodded and pulled over a spare board and began to write. They worked side by side for the next few hours, occasionally explaining to Josie what they were trying to calculate.  
While Hayley was writing out a section of the equation on the board Colby entered the room and dropped some files onto the table. He gave Charlie a quick greeting and asked Josie how she was doing before stepping up behind Hayley. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands against her ever growing stomach and placing a soft kiss to her bare shoulder.  
“Hey beautiful,” he murmured, “Any luck?”  
“Mmmm,” Hayley hummed peacefully as she leaned back into his hold, “I think we’ve almost got it.”  
“Ok, I’ll go let Don know.”  
Once Colby left the room Josie whistled appreciatively.  
“You definitely know how to pick them,” she smiled at Hayley.  
“Yeah, he’s amazing,” Hayley agreed.

~***~

They eventually caught the guy and both Hayley and Colby were greatful to get home and collapse on their bed.  
“You ok?” Colby asked with concern leaking through the exhaustion.  
“Yeah, it felt really good to be able to help her,” Hayley confessed before they both fell asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

“Hey babe, you home?” Colby called out as he walked through the apartment’s front door.  
“In the kitchen,” Hayley sung out, and Colby stooped to pick up the mail off the floor and flicked through it as he walked into the kitchen.  
He dropped it all on the bench, and lent in to kiss his wife on the neck as she stood at the stove grilling two steaks.  
“God, have I mentioned lately that you are the perfect women?” Colby sighed as he breathed in deep and wound his arms around her, laying both hands gently on her ever growing stomach.  
Hayley chuckled and leaned back against his chest, humming contently.  
”Oh,” Hayley said suddenly, “there was a missed call on the phone when I came in and I forgot to check it. Can you see who it was from for me please?”  
Colby nodded and let go of her, walking over to where the phone sat on the kitchen bench and pressed play for the voicemail message. Hayley turned as an unfamiliar voice emanated from the speaker.  
“Hello sweetheart,” the woman greeted and Colby groaned.  
“I’m just calling to remind you that your brother’s wedding is this Saturday and I will not accept any excuses this time. You have missed both Sarah and Mark’s weddings, so you will attend Michaels. We haven’t seen you since you got back from Afghanistan Colby and a Christmas card every year is not good enough. If you don’t show this weekend then we are all coming up to LA to visit.”  
The apartment was silent as the message ended.  
“Umm, who the fuck was that?” Hayley asked elegantly.  
“That,” Colby sighed, “was my mother.”  
“She sounds charming,” Hayley scoffed, as she began to dish up their dinner.  
“You have no idea. Uggg, I guess I’m going to Idaho this weekend. Are you gonna be ok while I’m gone?” he asked.  
Hayley felt her eyes start to mist with tears.  
“You don’t want me to go with you?” she asked quietly, “Are you ashamed of me?”  
“What?” Colby asked in shock, “No! God Hayley, no! Why would you think that?”  
“Well we’re married and we’re only 3 months away from having a baby together and you don’t want me to meet your family,” Hayley mumbled as a few tears ran down her cheeks.  
Colby pulled her to his chest and gently wiped away the tears with the pad of his thumb.  
“I’m not ashamed of you Hayles,” he promised, “I’m ashamed of them. I never got along with my family. My dad and I were really close but then he died and a few years later I joined the army like I was supposed to and then when I came back and told them I was gonna join the FBI they called me a disgrace for leaving the army. I haven’t wanted you to meet them because I don’t want them anywhere near the life I’ve built here with you.”  
“I understand, it’s just the hormones I think. Sorry. But I really would like to meet them,” Hayley replied.  
“Ok,” Colby agreed, “I guess I’ll go book us some flights and a hotel.”  
“I’ll call dad and get you the weekend off work,” Hayley offered, “but we should have dinner first before it gets cold.”

~***~

The following Saturday afternoon Hayley stood in front of a mirror in a hotel room in Winchester, Idaho. Her dress was pale blue and strapless. It was fitted around the bust and then fell loosely over her baby bump and the hem floated half way down her thighs. She wore simple blue ballet flats and her blonde hair fell in its usual loose curls down her back. As she put the finishing touches on her makeup Colby stepped up behind her and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder as his hands smoothed over her stomach.  
“You look so damn beautiful,” he murmured in her ear.  
“You don’t look half bad yourself,” Hayley replied as she took in his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a simple black suit and his thin tie was the same colour as her dress.  
“You ready?” he asked.  
“Yep, are you?” Hayley replied.  
“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess,” Colby sighed as he picked up Hayley’s purse from the end of the bed and helped her out the door.

~***~

Hayley stared in awe as they walked towards venue. A white marquee was erected on sprawling green grass with tables and a temporary dance floor set up. Nearby the marquee was a large amount of white painted wooden lawn chairs arranged to face an elegant white arch. Flowers adorned the arch and lined the aisle through the middle of the chairs. Hayley had to admit that it was a beautiful setting and the warm summer weather complimented the scene perfectly.  
“Here we go,” Colby grumbled as they approached three women standing ahead of them greeting guests as they arrived. Two of the women were in their mid to late thirties while the third looked older.  
“Colby?” the elder of the women gasped as they reached them. “Look at you! I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a suit before.”  
She pulled him in to a hug and it was clear that Colby was uncomfortable with the encounter as he awkwardly mumbled a quick, “Hi mum.”  
As she let go of him he stepped back politely.  
“Oh, and who is this?” Colby’s mother asked, as if she had only just noticed Hayley standing beside him.  
“Umm, this… this is…” Colby stammered.  
“Hayley Granger, pleasure to meet you ma’am,” Hayley offered with a smile as she extended her hand to her mother-in-law.  
“Granger?” the woman responded, ignoring Hayley’s outstretched hand and turning her attention back to her son.  
“Uh, yeah. Mum this is my wife Hayley,” Colby replied nervously, “Hayles, this is my mum, Helen, and my sister, Sarah and my sister-in-law Lisa.”  
For their part Colby’s sister only managed a vague sneer in Hayles direction in-lieu of a greeting, while his sister-in-law offered a polite smile and a quick hello.  
“It’s lovely to meet you all,” Hayley offered with another smile.  
“Honestly Colby, you disappear for years and then you show up at Mikey’s wedding with you’re pregnant wife that nobody knew about?” His sister asked.  
Colby just huffed out a dark and humourless chuckle.  
“Yeah, it’s great to see you all too. Missed you heaps,” he replied, voice dripping heavily with sarcasm. “If you’ll excuse us, I think we’ll go take our seats.”  
And without another word, he steered Hayley passed the women of his family towards the white chairs and helped her to a seat far at the back.  
“Well you weren’t exaggerating,” Hayley offered as Colby wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.  
“I’m so sorry,” he sighed and pulled her to him for a deep and warm kiss.  
“You did warn me,” Hayley replied when they pulled apart.  
Colby just sighed again and pulled Hayley back to his side and she rested her head back on his shoulder and they watched in comfortable silence as the other guests filtered in and took their seats. 

The ceremony was lovely, although Hayley spent the majority of it noticing the looks being cast over shoulders towards Colby and herself.  
After the ceremony, as dusk settled around them, the guests and bridal party migrated over to the tables set up under the large marquee. Colby and Hayley made their way to their seats and to Colby’s dismay he found that they had been placed on a table with his sister, her husband and one of his brothers, his wife, Lisa, and their mother.  
“Well this should be fun,” Colby muttered darkly as he helped Hayley slowly lower herself into her seat before he sat down in his own.  
“Colby?” one of the men at the table asked in shock, “I didn’t expect you to actually show. It’s good to see you bro.”  
“Hey Mark,” Colby replied, “Yeah, mum made it pretty clear that there was no getting out of this one.”  
“Hi there,” Mark said turning towards me, “I’m Colby’s brother, Mark. You must be the girlfriend that’s keeping him captive in LA.”  
He was only joking, but both Hayley and Colby visibly flinched in reaction to the thought of being held captive.  
“His wife actually,” Hayley responded, shaking his outstretched hand.  
“Wife?” Mark echoed, “When did that happen. Where was my invite bro?”  
“Almost a year ago,” Colby replied, “It was just a little ceremony with Hayley’s family and a few of our friends. We had planned to have something a bit bigger a few months ago but then some stuff came up and we decided we didn’t want to wait so it was a bit of a spur of the moment thing.”  
“I’d say shotgun wedding but obviously not,” his sister sneered, nodded toward where one of Colby’s hands rested on Hayley’s stomach.  
“Yeah thanks Sarah,” Colby responded and glared at his older sister.  
“Well it’s lovely to meet you Hayley,” Lisa offered.  
“Nice to meet you too,” Hayley smiled.  
“So how far along are you?” she asked, seemingly genuinely interested.  
“29 weeks,” Hayley replied.  
“Are you excited? I remember when I had our little boy, I was a nervous wreck by week 29,” she smiled.  
“I think I’m 50% excited and 50% terrified,” Hayley answered honestly.  
Lisa nodded and Colby’s brother-in-law introduced himself.  
“Ben,” he smiled, offering his hand first to Colby and then to Hayley, “I’m Sarah’s husband. Nice to finally meet you Colby and you too Hayley.”  
Both smiled and returned the sentiment before Ben continued.  
“So how did you two meet? Was Colby you’re knight in shining armour and saved you from a kidnapper or something?” Ben joked.  
Hayley sucked in a breath and leaned into Colby for support as he wrapped his arms around her both protective and comforting.  
“Did I say something?” Ben asked in confusion to Hayley’s reaction.  
“I’m on a team with Hayley’s dad and she consults for the FBI sometimes so that’s how we met,” Colby offered.  
“Are you ok?” Lisa asked as Hayley began to shake slightly.  
“Yeah,” Hayley replied with a quick nod, “Just bad memories. I was kidnapped about a year ago and it was pretty bad.”  
“Oh My God,” Lisa gasped, “that must have been awful.”  
“It definitely wasn’t one of my favourite days,” Hayley replied with forced lightness in her voice, “but Colby saved me.”  
“I’ve told you a million times, “Colby replied, “it was all Charlie. I just kicked in some doors and shot a few bastards who got in my way.”  
His siblings and their partners exchanged some worried glances as Colby placed a kiss on the crown of Hayley’s head.  
“Is that why you got married so fast?” Sarah asked.  
“Just didn’t see the point in spending another day without being able to be call myself her husband,” Colby replied, never lifting his eyes from Hayley.  
“That’s actually really beautiful,” Lisa sighed.  
There were a few moment of strained silence before anyone spoke again.  
“So, uh, Hayley, you consult for the FBI? That must be pretty cool. What do you do?” Ben asked to break the tension.  
“I’m a mathematician,” Hayley replied simply.  
“Our soldier boy turned fed, married to a mathematician?” Colby’s mother scoffed as she joined them at the table.  
“Yes,” Hayley replied tensely, already sick of the way this woman treated her son.  
“And if you’d care to notice, your son is actually incredibly intelligent,” she snapped.  
Helen blinked in shock before clenching her jaw.  
“Excuse me?” she asked with indignation, “I think I know my own son better than anyone.”  
Hayley took a deep breath and Colby squeezed her hand in support. She glanced at him before she responded and he returned the glance with a look that could only be interpreted as, ‘go for it’.  
“He’s not just some ex-army grunt with a badge,” Hayley sniped, “He understands game theory and knows what an evolutionary algorithm is and what it’s used for and he can successfully apply a social networking analysis to a terror cell. He’s proved his intelligence and after everything that happened with the CIA and the Chinese, the bureau offered him any position he wanted. He could be running a team or an entire department right now if he didn’t love what he was doing.”  
The rest of tables occupants looked at her in shock and Hayley was vaguely aware of Colby, Ben and Lisa hiding small smirks.  
“What do you mean by everything with the CIA and the Chinese?” Sarah asked.  
It was Hayley’s turn to look shocked, she turned to Colby.  
“They don’t know?” she asked incredulously.  
“I guess it didn’t make the news out here,” he replied with a shrug.  
“I was working undercover for the CIA as a triple agent with the FBI and the Chinese government,” he explained to his family like he was telling them he bought a new car.  
His mother spluttered and his siblings look absolutely appalled, while their partners looked appropriately impressed.  
“He risked his life for 2 years for this country so that people like you could continue to be prejudiced assholes,” Hayley spat.

~***~

“Well I think being thrown out of my own brother’s wedding before the first dance is quite the accomplishment,” Colby laughed as they drove their rental car towards the hotel.  
“I honestly can’t believe your family right now,” Hayley fumed, “What a giant group of self-important wankers.”  
“I did try to warn you,” Colby replied with a chuckle.  
“You’re in-laws seem pretty great though,” Hayley admitted.  
“Yes well we may be flawed but us Grangers have impeccable taste and an uncanny ability to find some absolutely amazing people to spend our lives with,” Colby smiled.  
“Mmm,” Hayley hummed, “you’re right. Do you think Ben would be willing to leave your sister for me?”  
“Oh you are just hilarious, aren’t you?” Colby laughed.  
“I try,” Hayley laughed back.


	14. Chapter 14

The restaurant was fancy and Hayley couldn’t help but feel like a blimp as Colby helped her sit down and her cocktail dress stretched almost beyond its limits.  
"I still don't get why we couldn't have just got Chinese and had dinner at home so I could wear sweatpants," she grumbled as the rest of the group took their seats and the waiter approached.   
"You've spent the last few months complaining that you needed to get out of the house before you went insane," Don replied with a chuckle.  
"Yes," Hayley huffed, "but I meant leave the house in sweatpants and one of Colby's oversized t-shirts, not this," she gestured at her dress with a look of pure hatred. "Do you have any idea how many stores Amita and I went to before we found this? It was the only thing that would actually zip up and it's awful! I look like a beached whale," she cried in frustration.  
"You look beautiful," Colby told her and gave her a brief kiss before turning his attention to the menu.  
Hayley pouted for a few more minutes and then also turned to her menu.  
Once their food had been ordered Hayley broached the topic they had been avoiding for weeks.  
“So, Robin,” she started, “I just want to say that I’m really glad you’re back. He’s been a miserable old bastard since you left.”  
Robin smiled with gratitude as Don huffed out an indignant, “Hey!”  
“Thank you Hayley, that really means a lot,” Robin replied sincerely.   
In an obvious attempt to change the topic Don piped up.  
"So squirt, have you settled on a name yet?" Don asked, gesturing to Hayley’s stomach.  
Both Colby and Hayley laughed.   
"Not even close," Colby replied.  
"Well I mean you decided that I’m not allowed to call her Hermione Granger, so that's a start isn't it?" Hayley added with a smirk.  
Don shook his head in amusement.  
"You do realize you've got to decide within a month right?" He asked.  
"God don't even say things like that, I'm hitting the point of panic I think," Hayley admitted.   
"It's finally hit me that a tiny human will be completely dependent on me, on us.”  
Colby squeezed Hayley’s hand and Don chuckled again.  
“Actually speaking of only having a month to go, Grandpa asked us to move into the craftsman,” Hayley informed her dad.  
“Really?” Don replied.  
“Yeah, he’s worried about me being on my own at the apartment when I go into labour and then he wants to be able to help me once the baby is born.”  
Don nodded and admitted, “Well I can’t say it wouldn’t make me feel better if you weren’t on your own.”  
“I think it’s a great idea,” Colby offered.

Three days later David, Colby and Don were moving furniture out of Colby and Hayley’s apartment.  
The move took two days to finish and then Hayley and Alan spent the rest of the week turning the second guest room in the craftsmen into a nursery.


	15. Chapter 15

It was a rare Sunday evening, the team had no urgent cases and there were no maths or physics conferences, so everyone was gathered around the dining table in the Eppes family home. Don, Robin, Charlie, Amita, Larry, Megan, David and Colby were all sitting around the table when Hayley and Alan carried in the last of the food into the dining room. Charlie quickly stood and took the tray from Hayley as Colby also stood and helped his wife slowly lower herself gracelessly into the chair next to his.  
“It’s moments like these when I’m really, really glad to be a guy,” David joked as Hayley winced.  
All the men nodded in unison as Hayley replied, “I’m going to be very happy in two weeks when she’s out.”  
“Well be that as it may,” Alan said, “dig in to the food before it gets cold.”  
Everyone did as they were told and before long food was being passed around the table and casual chatter was filling the room with happiness and warmth. Alan smiled as he took in the scene in front of him and thought of how much he wished Margaret was still with them to see the odd family they had created for themselves.  
As their plates were cleared, they all moved to the lounge room and Hayley huffed as she lowered herself onto the couch. The conversation continued to flow easily amongst the off bunch of academics and law enforcement and Colby smiled warmly as Hayley sighed and snuggled up against his chest in her sleep.  
An hour later Don’s phone rang and he answered with a customary, “Eppes.”  
After hanging up he turned to take in the group spread out around the room.  
“Sorry guys, looks like the parties over.”  
Megan and David sighed as they said their goodbyes and stood, pulling on their coats and heading out to the cars.  
“Tell David I’ll be out in a minute Don,” Colby said as he scooped Hayley up into his arms. He carried her up the stairs, straining only slightly under the added weight of their daughter and placed her in their bed with a soft kiss to her forehead. She stirred as he up the covers.  
“Shhhh, go back to sleep,” he murmured before he slipped from the room and made his way down stairs and out to David’s car.  
Shortly after the agents and Charlie left the house, Larry and Amita left and Alan made his way upstairs to bed.  
~***~ Alan was pulled from sleep only three hours later by a scream.  
He was out of bed and rushing down the hall before the screams formed words.  
“Grandpa!” Hayley sobbed loudly as he entered her bedroom.  
“You’re ok, everything’s ok,” Alan soothed as he found Hayley’s phone on the bedside table and dialled an ambulance.  
“Oh god!” Hayley cried out, “I’m not ready for this.”  
“You’re gonna be just fine,” Alan promised as he dialled Colby’s number.

~***~

Half an hour later David and Colby were trudging into the office, dripping wet and pushing their suspect ahead of them.  
Megan stood as they approached.  
“Where the hell have you two been and why haven’t you been answering your phones?” she asked as they pushed their suspect into interrogation.  
“We took a swim trying to catch this asshole and our phones didn’t appreciate it. Where’s Don?” David replied.  
“He’s at the hospital,” Megan replied and both men turned sharply to look at her in concern.  
“Is he ok?” Colby asked.  
“He’s fine but Hayley went into labour almost half an hour ago and we couldn’t get through to you.”  
Colby stood still in shock for a moment before he took off running for the elevator. David took off after him yelling at his retreating back, “Hold man, I’ll drive you!”


	16. Chapter 16

Alexis May Granger was born in the early hours of the following morning and Hayley smiled wearily as she watched her family and friends meet her daughter. The little girl was curled up protectively in Colby’s arms and he stared at down at her in awe as their friends crowded around him.  
“Can I hold her?” Don asked quietly as the baby slept. Colby nodded and gently handed her over.  
“So how’s it feel Grandpa?” Alan asked as he looked over Dons shoulder at his great granddaughter.  
“Oh god, I’m not old enough to be a grandpa,” Don groaned.  
Everyone in the room chuckled and found themselves seats around the room.  
Colby perched himself on the edge of Hayley’s bed and gave her hand a squeeze.  
Hayley yawned and leaned against Colby as Don gently handed his granddaughter to Alan.  
As the baby was handed around the room, conversation flowed softly as it had the previous evening at dinner. As the little girl was passed back to her mother, Alan spoke to those gathered in the room.  
“Well we should be going, Hayles. You look like you could use some rest and I’m sure you both want some time with your little one.”  
Everyone nodded and said their goodbyes before leaving. Don was the last to leave and on his way out the door he turned back to Colby.  
“I’ll put through that paperwork for you Colby and get your leave processed,” he offered.  
“Thanks Don,” Colby replied.  
“How much leave do you have?” Hayley asked as they both watched their daughter sleep.  
“5 weeks,” Colby responded, “plenty of time to help you get you two settled at home.”  
~***~  
4 MONTHS LATER  
~***~  
Don smiled to himself as he looked out over the bullpen.  
Hayley was standing with Colby as he held their daughter. The four month old was giggling and putting her father’s tie in her mouth as Colby gently tried to salvage the silk from being ruined by baby drool. Hayley laughed at Alexis and as she smiled warmly at her little family she caught sight of Don watching them. After a quick word to Colby and a kiss to Alexis’ head, she walked over to where her father stood watching the scene.  
“Hey daddio,” she greeted warmly.  
“Hey squirt,” Don replied, “What brings you in to the office today?”  
“I actually came to talk to you about maybe coming back to consult again,” Hayley explained nervously.  
“What about Lexi?” Done asked.  
“Grandpa said he’d be willing to look after her a few days a week if I need it,” she offered, “I just don’t think I’m well suited to being a housewife, you know?”  
Don nodded, “I’ll see what I can do about that.”  
“Thanks dad. You’re the best!” Hayley said, giving him a hug as they both turned to watch Lexi interact with her father and the other agents in the office.  
“Life is pretty good, isn’t it?” Hayley asked as she leaned against Don’s side.  
“Yeah,” Don agreed, “Yeah, it is.”


End file.
